Gearing.



E. W. BLUM.

GEABING.

APPLIOATIOH I'ILBD AIB. 6, 1908.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT oE IoE.

EDWARD W. BLUM, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

GEARING.

968,025. Specification of Letter-shunt- Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

, Application filed April 6, 1908. Serial No. 425,509.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. BLUM, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Cincinnati, Hamilton county, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful I niprovements in Gearing; and I do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exact description of the invention, attention being called to the accompanying drawing, with the reference characters -marked thereon, which form also a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in gearing and concerns more specifically means for converting a constant rotary motion into one rotating alternately in opposite directions and also certain details of construction connected therewith.

In the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end thereof, will be found a full description of my invention, together with its operations, parts and construction, which latter is also illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1, shows in elevation the various parts concerned in my invention. Fig. 2, shows parts from the central portion of the preceding figure on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3, is a vertical, central section of Fig. 2, and of the central portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a vertical cross-section of Fig. 3 and taken on line 4-4: of said figure. Fig. 5, is a sideview of the parts shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 6, shows modification of certain parts shown in Fig. 2.

My invention is particularly applicable to washers used in laundries and dry cleaning establishments and is illustrated and described in such connection. In such washers there is a hollow, inner drum supported horizontally within an outer shell and adapted to contain the clothes to be washed. The washing manipulation consists of rotating the inner drum with the clothes alternately in opposite directions within the outer-shell. My invention concerns the mechanism for causing thisalternating rotation of the inner'drum and the particular means for connecting it to this drum.

In the drawing, 8 indicates one of the two heads'of the inner drum, each of which heads has attached to it a trunnion-journal or shaft 9, which journals are supported in bearings formed in floor-stands 10. These stands support also the outer shell, the lower part of the side 11 of which rests on them, the shell being arranged between these stands and connected to them at its ends. Journals 9 extend through the ends 12 of said shell as best shown in Fig. 3. To rotate the drum alternately in opposite direction, power is applied to one or both of its journals 9.

In the drawing, only that particular end of the washer is shown where a driven journal is located. At that end the journal extends outwardly beyond its bearing in stand '10 and carries on its projecting end a pinion 13. In mesh with this pinion is a segmental rack 14: pivotally supported at 15 on a bracket 16. This bracket is secured in avail-- able position, which may be on the upper side of the outer shell. Rack 14 is oscillated by a crank 17 mounted upon a shaft 18 and connected to the former by a link 19. Shaft 18 is suitably supported in bearings 20, one beingshown. It is driven in any suitable manner, as for instance by a gearwheel 21 on the opposite end of the washer and driven by a pinion 22, the latter being rotated by a pulley 23. It will now be seen that the constant rotation of crank 17 by oscillating the rack 14, rotates pinion 13, al-

ternately, first in one and then in the other direction. These washers, that is their inner drums, are quite heavy and by the momentum acquired at the end of their motion, after having been rotated in one direction, present a strong resistance to a mechanism which seeks to reverse this motion. Since the driving parts are positively connected to each other by reason of the engaged gearteeth and also constant in their motion, it

'is evident that any abrupt reversal vof the drum produces at that momenta sudden and severe strain in the machinery and in all structural parts connected therewith. It affects all supports and bearingsand all joints and connections, where one machine-element is attached to another. Injurious effect of this shock can only be overcome by designing all the concerned parts of such sizes as to counteract by sheer strength of material the resistance of the moving parts when, at the ends of their motion in one direction, they tend to oppose each other when reversing. This would result in a structure unnecessarily heavy, involvin use of an excess of material and of muc more power than is otherwise required to merely rotate the drum.

Now instead of designing and constructing the mechanical parts involved of such sizes and strength as is sufficient for normal operation plus the excess requlred to meet 'the added strain which regularly recurs at sufiicient for normal operation and levercome the effects of the added strain referred to by a certain mechanical construction whereby the same is taken care of and by which its efiects as far as any structural reaction is concerned, are entirely eliminated. For such purpose pinion 13 is neither positively nor rigidly connected with reference to its shaft, which may be extended journal 9, but in a manner permitting it to' move to a certain limited extent independent with reference to said shaft. This I accomplish by providing an intermediate member which is rigidly mounted upon the shaft, or journal and to which the pinion is yieldmgly connected, the connection being due to ressure-contact which, by permitting one o the contacting members to slip on the other one, at the moment of reversing presents at the same time a certain frictional resistance which acts as a brake to this slipping. movement and gradually checks it, so that thereafter the two members move again as one. This intermediate member consists of a hub 24 rigidly mounted upon shaft 9 in a customary. manner, as for instance by a key 25. Pinion 13 which has a circular'recess 26 in one of its sides, is loosely seated upon this .hub, which latter has a flange 27 extending in or over. this recess. An open ring 28 is contained within this latter and confined in position by a pin 29 seated in flange 27. It 1s of such a size as to nearly fill this recess, its outer side a being concentric with the opposite circular side I) of the recess. 31 is another pin, also, seated in flange 27 in a manner to be free to turn and provided on its inner end with a suitable, preferably square head 32 which extends into recess 26 and also occupies a position between the a opposite ends of open rm 28 as best shown in Fig. 4. The normal re ation and position of these parts is such that head 32 cannot turn between the opposite ends of open ring 28 without spreadi them andthereby extending the ring peripherically so as to force its outer sideaintotight binding-contact with the opposite surface I) of the pinion. The normal size of the space between surfaces a and b, when they are not in contact, is very limited and simply suflicient to break this contact, so that very little motion of head 32 is re uired to spread ring 28 suffici'ently to e ect this contact. Head 32 is held in such active position, in which it holds ring 28 in contact with pinion 13, by spring-action; A preferable way to apply this action consists of rigidly attaching an passing loosely through an-o enin .a knob 39 for its mani ulation.

seems the free end of which arm a spring 34 acts.

in a manner to hold head 32 in the desired tilted position as shown in Fig. 4. Spring 34, which is a coil-sprin is sleeved u on a rod 35, hooked at one en into flange 2 and in the arm near its end. S ring 34 is co ned between.this latter an a washer and nut- 36 near the other end of rod 35. The action of spring 34 and with it the intensity of the pinion-holding contact between surfaces a and b may thus be adjusted. I also arrange for possibility of instantly breaking th1s contact, by providing means which counteract the action of the spring and render the same inactive as far as its efi'ect u ontilting head 32 is concerned. For sucli purpose there is an additional arm 37, also rigidly connected to pin 31 and means are provided to act upon t 's arm in a manner to turn it opposite to the direction in which arm 33 tends to turn said pin and head 32 thereon. These means consist of a cam, or an eccentric 38, loosely sup orted, (it may be mounted upon the'end o shaft 9) and provided with v When turned as shown in dotte lines in Fig. 2, it will relieve the action of spring 34 and turn head 32 in a manner to permit the ends of rin 28 to move toward each other, so that they rop away-from the inion. The contact of cam 38 is preferab y with an interposed roller 41 carried bya pin 42 adjustably mounted on arm 37.

In practice the two arms 33 and 37 may be formed in one connected U-shaped structure, which is actuated either automatically and by action of spring 34 to move head 32 in one direction, or manually by cam 38 to move it in the other direction, whereby in the first case the pinion'is held to shaft 9 and in the other case it is released and free therefrom and rotation of the drum stops entirely. The resistance of journal 9 to follow the motion of the pinion at the moment of reversing may be still further eased atthat time by means illustrated in Fig. 6. and ,which means operate to cause rin 28 to momentarily'relax more or less its old'on the pinion at the critical moment, so that at that instant" the rack is merely pullin against the free pinion, and the load 0 the drum or whatever is moved by the pinion is not taken on until the reversing point is passed. For such purpose cam 38 is duplicated and roller 41 occupies normally a position in the space between these two cams which space is of sufiicient len th to permit a certain amount of free play or knob 39, before either of the cams will come in contact with roller 41. At the moment of reversal the momentum of the loosely mounted knob,which tends to move with the does not produce 'a shock or set 11 against roller 41 whereby arm 37 isknocked side-wise and caused to act the same as f knob 39 were manually operated to pos1- tively counteract the action of spring 34 and to release the pinion. In this case, unless knob 39 is sufliciently heavy, weight should be added, for which purpose it may be enlarged to assume the form of a flywheel, or a weight 44 may be provided. The manual operation of the knob for the purpose of osit-ively disconnecting journal and pinion rom each other as before described is not interfered with and weight 44 may serve as a handle for such mani ulation. Either of the cams 38 may be use at that time. This automatic release by a cam actuated by momentum of a rotary member may however form also an independent device and need not necessarily be combined with the manually operated releasing device.

The elastic action of ring 28, which is cast-iron may be graduated by cuts 43.

It will now be seen that when rack 14 at the turning point of its mot-ion reverses the rotation of the pinion, the motion of the drum which tends to continue in the same direction and thereby opposes this reversal,

an mjurious strain in the I Il8.ClllIlBIy, SlIlCB the journal may slip Within the pinion, while this latter at once follows the rack. At the same time however, ring 28 acts as a brakeand by the frictional resistance set up between the contacting surfaces at and b retards this independent motion of the drum until the momentum of this independent motion is exhausted, after which the drum again follows the pinion, and the two move together as one. The resistance due to these opposing motions may be still further eased by the means shown in Fig. 6 and described above, whereby at the critical moment pinion and journal are released toany des1red extent from each other. The frictional engagement between the pinion and its shaft may be adjusted at any time by means of nut 36. By manipulation at knob 39, or handle 44 the driven shaft or journal may be instantly disconnected, or cut out from the operating machinery.

Having described my invention, I claim as new:

1. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly connected thereto, a loosely, seated pinion, a split ring carried by the hub, springactuated means whereby this ring is caused to engage the pinion'with a pressure-contact, a evice whereby these means may be manually acted upon to control this pressure-contact and a reciprocating rack in mesh with the pinion.

2. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite direct-ions,

the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly connected thereto, a loosely seated pinion, v

tary parts and adapted to counteract the.

pinion-engaging function of the springactuated means so as to temporarily disen gage more or less the pinion and a reciprocating rack in mesh with this latter.

3 In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly mounted thereon, a loosely seated pinion, a reciprocating rack in mesh therewith, a split ring intermediate hub and pinion, a tilting member carried on the hub and occupying a position between the separated ends of the ring, an arm on this member, a spring acting on the same in a manner to cause said member to tilt so as to extend the ring into pressure-contact with the pinion and means operating to tilt said member in opposite directions so as to oppose the action of the spring and to interrupt the pressure-contact be tween ring and inion.

4.. In means or producing a rotary mo-' tion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub'rigidly mounted thereon, a loosely seated pinion, a reciprocating rack in mesh therewith, a split ring intermediate hub and pinion, a tilting member carried on the hub and occupying a position between the separated ends of the ring, an arm on this member, a spring acting on thesame in a manner to cause said member to tilt so as to extend the ring into pressure-contact with the pinion, another arm on the member mentioned and means to operate this second arm in a manner to cause it to tilt said member in opposition to the action of the spring and so as to interrupt the pressure-contact between ring and pinion..

5. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of. a shaft, a hub rigidly mounted thereon, a loosely seated pinion, a reciprocating rack in mesh therewith, a split ring intermediate hub and pinion, a

tilting member carried on the hub and occupying a position between the separated ends of the ring, an arm on this member, a spring acting on the same in a manner to cause said member to tilt so as to extend the ring into pressure contact with the pinion, another arm on the member mentioned, a cam adapted to act upon this second arm in a manner to cause it to tilt said member in opposition to the action of'the spring and so as to interrupt the pressure-contact between ring and pinion and means to actuate this cam for the purpose indicated.

6. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions,

. pying a position between the separated ends of the ring, an arm on this member, a spring acting on the same in a manner to cause said member to tilt so as to extend the ring into pressure-contact with the pinion, another arm on the member mentioned, a cam adapted to act upon this second arm in a manner to cause it to tilt said member in opposition to the action of the spring and so as to interrupt the pressure-contact between ring and pinion and manually operated means to actuate this cam for the purpose indicated.

' 7 In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly mount ed thereon, a loosely seated pinion, a reciprocating rack in mesh therewith, a split ring intermediate hub and pinion, a tilting member carried .on the hub and occupying a position between the separated ends of the ring, an arm on this member, a spring acting on the same ina manner to cause said member to tilt so-as to extend the ring into pressure-contact with the pinion, another arm on the member mentioned and a cam supported to rotate with the shaft, but mounted to be capable of rotation independent therefrom and adapted, when actuated by the momentum of its rotary motion, to act upon the second arm in a manner to tilt the member thereon in opposition to the action of I the spring on the first arm and so as to interrupt the pressure-contact between ring and pinion.

8. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly mountmember between these two movable ed thereon, a loosely seated pinion, a re eiprocating rack in mesh therewith, a split ring intermediate hub and pinion, a tiltmg member carried on the hub and occupying a position between the separated endsof the ring, two arms connected to this member, a spring adapted to act upon one of them to cause the t1 ting member to spread the rin into pressure-contact with the pinion an means adapted to act upon the other arm to oppose the action of the spring and to interru t said pressure-contact.

9. 11 means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly mounted thereon, a pinion held to its seat with a pressure-contact, a reciprocating rack in mesh therewith, means operating to temporarily cause shaft and pinion to move independent of each other and an intermediate arts adapted to engage one of them with e astic pressure so as to retard its motion with reference to the-other part and to cause the two to move eventually together.

10. In means for producing a rotary motion which alternates in opposite directions, the combination of a shaft, a hub rigidly connected thereto, a loosely seated pinion, a split ring carried by this hub, spring-actuated means whereby this ring is caused to engage the pinion with a pressure-contact, a

device actuated automatically to counteract the pinion-engaging function of the springactuated means so as to temporarily disengage more or less the pinion and a reciprocating rack in mesh with the latter.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD W. BLUM. 

